Small bowel cancer is an uncommon type of cancer that occurs in the small intestine. Your small intestine, which is also called the small bowel, is a long tube that carries digested food between your stomach and your large intestine (colon).

Experience. Small bowel cancer is an uncommon type of cancer. Mayo Clinic doctors have experience treating many cases of small bowel cancer.

A full range of treatment options to consider. Mayo Clinic doctors will work with you to review all of your options and choose the treatment that best suits your needs and goals. The range of treatments offered to people with small bowel cancer includes chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biological therapy and many types of surgical procedures.

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Small bowel cancers are difficult to diagnose. For this reason, people suspected of having small bowel cancer often undergo multiple tests and procedures to locate the cancer or rule out a cancer.

Imaging tests

Imaging tests use machines to create pictures of the body in order to look for signs of small bowel cancer. Imaging tests used to diagnose small bowel cancer include:

Computerized tomography (CT) scan

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Positron emission tomography (PET)

X-rays of the upper digestive system and small bowel after drinking a solution containing barium (upper GI series with small bowel follow-through)

Tests to see inside your small intestine

Endoscopic tests involve placing a camera inside your small intestine so that your doctor can examine the inside walls. Endoscopic tests may include:

Upper endoscopy

Colonoscopy

Capsule endoscopy, which is sometimes called a pill camera

Single-balloon enteroscopy

Double-balloon enteroscopy

Spiral enteroscopy

Endoscopic tests, other than the capsule endoscopy, allow doctors to pass special tools into the small intestine to remove tissue samples for testing.

Surgery

Sometimes small bowel cancers are located in places that make them very difficult to see with other tests. In these cases, your doctor may recommend surgery to examine your small intestine and the surrounding area for signs of cancer.

Surgery can involve one large incision in your abdomen (laparotomy) or it can involve several small incisions (laparoscopy).

During laparoscopy, your surgeon passes special surgical tools through the incisions, as well as a video camera. The camera allows the surgeon to guide the tools and see inside your abdomen.

Treatment for small bowel cancer depends on the type of cancer you have and its stage.

Surgery

Surgeons work to remove all of the small bowel cancer, when possible. If cancer affects a small portion of the small intestine, surgeons may remove only that section and rejoin the cut ends of the intestine. In some cases, all of the small intestine may need to be removed.

If a small bowel cancer can't be removed, surgeons might perform a bypass to relieve a blockage in the small intestine.

Other treatments

Cancer research is conducted in coordination with the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center receives funding from the National Cancer Institute and is designated as a comprehensive cancer center — recognition for an institution's scientific excellence and multidisciplinary resources focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Publications

See a list of publications by Mayo Clinic authors on small bowel cancer on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.

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